Darren McCarty is coming to Detroit quicker than expected but not to play. McCarty is bothered by a rib cartilage injury suffered last weekend while playing with Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League. He will be examined by Wings trainers Friday and will not be on the ice.

General manager Ken Holland said trainers will determine whether McCarty is able to play with the Griffins Saturday in Cleveland. McCarty was held out of Thursday’s Griffins game in Milwaukee.

“We’re going to see if he’s able to play,” Holland said. “Right now, he’s not able to play. It’s nothing more than day to day.”

Couple issues here. Have you read about McCarty’s rib injury until today? Not anything written by the Deep Diggers. Yeah, we pointed it out a few days ago, but only because Michael Zudeima of the GR Press had written about it in his game report Tuesday morning. Speaking of Zudeima, I’ve asked him a few questions about Mac’s return and I should be getting the answers back soon. When I do, you’ll have ‘em.

I might be risking losing a few Avs readers forever over this brief note, but here’s to a happy return to the NHL and Red Wings to Darren McCarty.
He’s a tremendous guy, somebody I got to know a little bit during the process of writing “Blood Feud” - and, no, this is not a cheap book plug here.
McCarty has, by all accounts, worked real hard to get his life back together, and has looked great in his comeback stints in the minors before re-signing with the Wings.

I personally hope he has several more years in the NHL. He’s a real hockey player, a guy I’d want on my team if I were a GM. And, he’s going to help the Wings in the playoffs.

About Abel to Yzerman

Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome: wphoulihan@gmail.com